Studio acquired a pitch from “American Sniper” writer Jason Hall, who will script the story of the influential Russian mystic who advised the ruling Russian Imperial family between 1907 and his death in 1916.

DiCaprio will be seen next in Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf Of Wall Street,” starring DiCaprio as stock broker Jordan Belfort. Appian Way is a producer on the film, with Paramount releasing the film on Nov. 15.

Warner-based McCormick is the studio’s former production chief. He was a producer on “Gangster Squad.”

There was nothing ‘mad’ about Rasputin. We know he was a healer, a champion of the underdog and downtrodden, and he was anti-war. He was especially horrified at the ethnic cleansing (pogroms) conducted by the military. It was a time when anti-Semitism was government policy, as evidenced by the laws restricting Jews to live in a certain area (The Pale of Settlement), barring them from educations and many occupations. The worst were the raids wherein entire towns of Jews were tortured and slaughtered.

To be against war (this was during WW I) and to advocate equal rights for Jews (who were all considered spies and thieves) were stances that were considered treasonous by society. Even worse, Rasputin had many progressive ideas for economic and social reform that threatened the nobility.

Read “RASPUTIN: The Memoirs of His Secretary” by Aron Simanovitch, just translated into English and annotated for historical accuracy. Rasputin was a wild guy, but not the monster the aristocracy tried to depict him as. The demonic myth is based on the rumors the nobles spread to discredit him.http://therealrasputin.wordpress.com/